Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Josh Freeman warms up before an NFL preseason football game against the Washington Redskins last season.

Written by

Chris Bonanno

College players don't need a preseason to put on quality games in Week 1, and they seem to do just fine in bowl games despite six-week layoffs in many cases. So why do professionals need four games to get ready? Simply put, they don't.

The biggest thing a fan or a team hopes for is that no one on their team is injured. Essentially, your rooting interest in these games is that something horrible doesn't happen, because really, nothing that happens positively is going to be particularly noteworthy. How is that fun? ...